Tsitsikamma-Nationalpark

IUCN Category II - National Park

Lagoon at Nature's Valley east of Plettenberg Bay

The Tsitsikamma National Park was until 2009 an autonomous National Park in South Africa. Since then, he is part of the Garden Route National Park. It is located in the district Cacadu in the western part of the Eastern Cape Province.

Profile of the park

The park covers an area of ​​29,838 hectares was opened in 1964 and extended over nearly 100 kilometers along the coast between Cape St. Francis and Plettenberg Bay. It included not only the original forest on land, but also a 5.5 km wide strip of coastal waters. The vegetation there is very lush and diverse. The dense forest with its old, up to 40 feet tall trees is one of the last primeval forests of South Africa. Remarkable are especially the yellowwood trees (Broad Steineibe, Podocarpus latifolius ) here. From the Tsitsikamma mountains many streams and rivers flow to the sea thanks to the high rainfall annually up to 1200 mm. In addition, there are a variety of birds, monkeys and small antelope species. Off the coast are often seen dolphins and whales.

The name Tsitsikamma means in the language of the Khoikhoi as much as " watered place".

On 6 March 2009, the park became part of the Garden Route National Park.

Otter Trail

The Otter Trail is a hiking trail that leads over a distance of 41 km along the coast from the mouth of the Storms River up to Nature's Valley. The Otter Trail is a self guided tour for two groups of six people per day. The park management writes five nights ago in huts provided for this purpose. The daily production rates are between 4.8 (first day ) to 13.8 kilometers. Here are some more climbs to the plateau and back down to the coast.

Gallery

Coastline of the Tsitsikamma National Park

Cliffs of the Tsitsikamma National Park